Day 12: Joseph’s Journey- Trusting God Through Trials

Welcome to The Glory Team Bible Reading plan. In Chapters 37-40 Joseph’s journey begins with betrayal by his brothers and imprisonment in Egypt. Despite his trials, God’s presence is with him.

Genesis 37: Introducing the story of Joseph, Jacob's favored son, who receives dreams signifying his future dominance over his brothers, causing immense jealousy among them; when Jacob sends Joseph to check on his brothers, they plot to kill him, but instead throw him into a pit and later sell him as a slave to a passing caravan, deceiving their father by presenting his colorful coat stained with blood, making Jacob believe Joseph was killed by wild animals, setting the stage for Joseph's journey through trials and eventual rise to power in Egypt.

Genesis 38: Judah, one of Jacob's sons, marries a Canaanite woman and has three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah; when Er dies after marrying Tamar, Judah instructs Onan to fulfill the "levirate marriage" duty by having children with Tamar, but Onan deliberately avoids fathering offspring, leading to his death by God; Judah then promises Tamar that Shelah will marry her when he grows up, but later reneges, causing Tamar to disguise herself as a prostitute and seduce Judah, resulting in her pregnancy and the revelation of Judah's paternity when she presents proof of his identity; despite his initial deceit, Judah accepts responsibility and Tamar gives birth to twin boys, signifying the continuation of Judah's lineage despite his moral failings.

Genesis 39: Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, is bought by Potiphar, an Egyptian official, and quickly gains favor due to God's blessing, becoming the manager of Potiphar's household; however, Potiphar's wife attempts to seduce Joseph, who refuses, leading her to falsely accuse him of attempted rape, causing Potiphar to throw Joseph into prison where, even in captivity, God continues to bless him, allowing him to gain influence over the prison warden and manage the other prisoners.

Genesis 40: While imprisoned in Egypt, Joseph is entrusted with the care of Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and baker who both have troubling dreams; Joseph interprets these dreams, revealing that the cupbearer will be restored to his position while the baker will be executed, which happens exactly as predicted. Despite the cupbearer's promise to mention Joseph to Pharaoh when he is restored, he forgets, leaving Joseph still imprisoned despite demonstrating his ability to interpret dreams accurately.

Joseph’s Journey: Trusting God Through Trials

The purpose of the book of Genesis are to record God's creation of the world and His desire to have a people set apart to worship Him. The author of the Book of Genesis is Moses. There is plenty of evidence that leads to this conclusion:

• The Talmud (The Hebrew Bible, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology.) attributes this book to Moses.

• Citations from Genesis show that the Old Testament is part of the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 1:8; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chronicles 1:1)

• Jesus and the New Testament writers attribute Moses as the author of as an essential part of Scripture (Matthew 19:8; Luke 16:29; 24:27)

The original audience of the book of Genesis are the people of Israel and it was written in the wilderness during Israel's wanderings. The setting is primarily the region presently known as the Middle East.

The Key People we will learn about are Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Joseph.

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Reference Guides:

Life Application Study Guide

A Popular Survey of the Old Testament by Norman L. Geisler

The Power of God's Names by Tony Evans